Ekaterinburg, RussiaIn the only major card this coming Monday fight fans will be tuning in to see Lightweight king Sergey Kovalev defending his belts against Isaac Chilemba. On the same card there will be a number of Asian fighters.

One of the Asian fighters is Filipino veteran Leonardo Doronio (15-12-3, 10) who will be facing off against the unbeaten Pavel Malikov (7-0, 1) in a bout for the WBC Asian Boxing Council Silver Lightweight title. On paper Malikov has to be favoured given the records of the men involved, however Doronio is much better than his record suggests and he was very unlucky not to defeat Nery Saguilan last time out. This really shouldn't be the mismatch that it looks on paper.

Another Asian on this card is American based Kazakh hopeful Madiyar Ashkeyev (3-0, 2) who will be up against the more experienced Azeri Ismat Eynullayev (7-0, 4) in a 6 rounder. On paper this looks like both men facing their first hungry opponent and this could be a very interesting match up.

This Sunday isn't the biggest day but it's one of the most active between now and the end of the year with 4 Japanese cards all on the same day. Unfortunately however those bouts aren't particularly big with very little really standing out. Osaka, JapanFor us the most interesting for the 4 Japanese shows is the Green Tsuda promoted card from the IMP Hall in Osaka. The card isn't one that will have fans weak at the knees but there is a number of things that genuinely interest us about the show.

The chief support contest looks like another relative mismatch as the Japanese ranked Takayuki Okumoto (12-6, 5) battles against Yusaku Suzuki (8-12-2, 5). The 23 year old Okumoto was stopped just a few fights ago by Rusalee Samor and will, like Kawaguchi, be trying to rebuild his confidence however Suzuki isn't as limited as his record indicates and we suspect he will give Okumoto a genuinely good fight, even if he does come up short.

The thing that excites us about this card however the young debutant Kazuki Tanaka (0-0) who we have been told is another of Japan's insanely talented youngsters set to make a real mark on the sport. Unlike many of these touted youngsters from Japan Tanaka is a slightly bigger guy and will be fighting at Super Bantamweight, a division that could see him in notable bouts in Europe, Mexico or the US. If what we hear about this kid is true then he could well be on the fast track to the top. Sadly we're unsure who Tanaka will be fighting though we have been informed that it will be a Thai visitor.

As well as the 3 bouts mentioned this card will feature a further 6 contests.

Osaka, JapanPrior to the Green Tsuda card there will actually be another show in the IMP Hall with Taiho promotions putting this one on.

The main event on this card is much better than the main event on the other IMP Hall card as the OPBF and Japanese ranked Ryota Kajiki (23-9, 15) takes on the heavy handed Kota Fukuoka (15-5-2, 12). Coming in to this bout Fukuoka has lost his last 2 bouts but does tend to hurt opponents when he connects on them and Kajiki certainly isn't the most elusive fighter out there. Whilst Fukuoka isn't in great form neither is Kajiki who has gone 3-3 in his last 6, including a stoppage loss to Daiki Kaneko in a Japanese title fight just over 2 years ago. This is a really good domestic level bout.

In the chief support bout Ippo Nishiwaki (6-3-1, 4) will be battling against Yasuyuki Otagaki (5-2-3, 1) in an interesting 8 rounder between two men just looking to move their career one. The chief bout however is over-shadowed by the next bout down the card which will see the promising and unbeaten Takuma Hayashi (4-0, 3) battle against Akira Takasuka (4-6). The 18 year hold Hayashi is stepping up to the 6 round distance for the first time and questions are expected to be asked for him, hopefully he'll be able to answer those questions and continue to build on his promising career.

As well as the 3 bouts mentioned this card will feature a further 5 bouts.

Yamaguchi, JapanA third Japanese card will be headlined by a pair of Japan Vs Philippines bouts.

The main event will see Accel Sumiyoshi (4-3, 1) continue to take on tough opponent as he battled the OPBF ranked Filipino visitor Leonardo Doronio (14-9-2, 9). Sumiyoshi is much better than his record indicates though has been matched insanely hard since his debut in May 2012 and we do wonder why his team doesn't let him have a “gimme”. This is possibly the second easiest bout of his career so far and that's because he has been thrown to the wolves unfortunately. The reward for a win by Sumiyoshi would likely be an OPBF ranking though Doronio has won 4 of his last 5 and is no push over.

The co-feature will see Burning Ishii (5-2-1, 2), incidentally a victim of Leonardo Donorio, battle against Filipino veteran Edgar Gabejan (26-30-6, 8). Gabejan has a horrible record on paper though he's actually a brilliant test with many of his losses being close decisions or defeats at the hands of very good fighters like Adones Aguelo and Michael Farenas. This could be a bout where Ishii is trying to bite off more than he can chew unfortunately.

As well as the two bouts mentioned this show is set to feature a further 6 bouts to give the fans plenty of action.

Aichi, JapanThe longest card is a 10 fight show from Aichi. Sadly despite being the longest it's also the one with the fewest bouts of interest.

The most notable bout will see the heavy handed Daisuke Hayakawa (8-2, 7) facing off against Filipino visitor Roque Lauro (11-16-4, 2) in what looks to be a good test for Hayakawa, especially give the fact Lauro is generally a tough fighter capable of going rounds with guys like Hayakawa.

The co-feature will see Japanese ranked Super Flyweight Yuji Shimizu (16-8-1, 1) fighting against the limited and light hitting Tatsuya Kaneko (7-10-1, 1) in a bout expected to go the scheduled 8 rounds. Another Japanese ranked fighter on this card is Middleweight Marcos Sogabe (5-9-1, 4) who will be up against the limited, light hitting and very stoppable Tetsuya Muraki (8-11, 1) in what looks to be a very weak bout given it's status on the card.(Image courtesy of boxmob.jp)